Texas ‘Rebels’ high school coach mocked black student for having ‘nappy and nasty’ hair: report

A Texas family wants to know why a high school coach did not receive any significant punishment for allegedly making racial remarks about their daughter.

Over the weekend, more than 100 people reportedly rallied in North Richland Hills in support of Richland High School’s mascot name, the Rebels, which honors Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil war.

The rally came just days after the Star-Telegramobtained records indicating that one of the school’s softball coaches had been reprimanded for racially insensitive remarks to black students.

An April letter from Richland Principal Carla Rix informed Coach Brenda Jacobson that she “may have made inappropriate comments to students based on race or skin color.”

During the 2014 season, Jacobson had been accused of calling a black player’s hair “nappy and nasty,” and telling a player that “the sun is more attracted to you because you are black.”

Kenzie Wilson told WFAA that Jacobson had announced to other students that she had refused to dive into a puddle of water during a drill “because there is water on the ground and black people don’t like water.”

Jacobson was also accused of telling a player who cut her leg, “See, everyone is white on the inside.”

Wilson and her family said they were shocked to find out that Jacobson was not punished with a suspension, and that she had been placed on administrative leave for less than a day while an investigation was completed.

“There is no way you say what you did to my daughter with witnesses, and you keep your job,” father Kenneth Wilson explained.

The family said that they eventually felt it necessary to move out of the school district to protect their two other children.

About the Author

David Edwards has served as an editor at Raw Story since 2006. His work can also be found at Crooks & Liars, and he's also been published at The BRAD BLOG. He came to Raw Story after working as a network manager for the state of North Carolina and as as engineer developing enterprise resource planning software. Follow him on Twitter at @DavidEdwards.